The Squiggle Sense

A=A

doc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:35:05 +0000

by Ernst Pöppel The most important equation for me is the ’sentence of identity’, A=A. One might say that this is not even an equation. Obviously A=A. For a neuroscientist, however, the concept of identity cannot be taken for granted. How is it possible that I see a face now and that I see the same [...]

From Quantum Mechanics to The Complementary Nature

doc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:44:16 +0000

Scientifically speaking, nature is grounded in the laws of quantum mechanics. In quantum mechanics, a strange situation arises: atoms and photons can behave as either waves or particles, and which behavior is observed depends upon the instrument used to measure it. Although waves and particles seem to be totally different and apparently mutually exclusive descriptions [...]

Just say “Mtsbwy!”

David Engstrøm — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:03:03 +0000

Mtsbwy! or May the squiggle be with you! This is what we call the squiggle greeting: It means that you wish for the person you greet with it to awaken, be mindful of, or simply appreciate their squiggle sense, that is, their sixth sense of the complementary nature, such that they might transcend detrimental either/or [...]

The Squiggle Sense of The Glass Bead Game

David Engstrøm — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:35:11 +0000

“As long as Knecht permitted the flow of inner images to come without direction, as they do, like dreams, in the initial stage of relaxation, there were two principal scenes which emerged from the stream and lingered, two pictures or symbols, two parables. In the first Knecht, as a boy, followed the Master along a variety [...]

Coordination Dynamics of the Horse~Rider System

doc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:18:36 +0000

by J. Lagarde, J. A. S.Kelso, C. Peham and T. Licka pdf TSS: Here is one of the first scientific journal articles to use a squiggle (horse~rider) in its title. Using coordination dynamics to understand a complementary pair outside the field of coordination dynamics itself is an example of the “CD of CP” strategy. Here [...]

The Squiggles of Neuroscience

doc — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:37:24 +0000

action potential~graded potential afferent~efferent agonist~antagonist axon~dendrite brain~mind brain~neuron central~peripheral chemical~electrical dorsal stream~ventral stream excitation~inhibition glia~neuron hearing~sound left~right light~vision Na+~K+ potentiation~depression presynaptic~postsynaptic sensation~perception sensory~motor serial~parallel smell~taste spike~threshold subthreshold~superthreshold Want to add to this list? Propose a candidate Neuroscience squiggle in the comment box. This will help the the collection to evolve, and is good practice for your squiggle sense!

The Squiggle Sense of The Modern~Ancient

doc — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:33:03 +0000

The modern itself, The ancient itself, Either the modern or the ancient, Both the modern and the ancient, The modern changing to the ancient, The ancient changing to the modern, Between the ancient and the modern, Neither the modern nor the ancient, Beyond the modern and the ancient…

Review of Kelso’s Dynamic Patterns

doc — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:34:55 +0000

J. A. Scott Kelso. Dynamic Patterns: the self-organization of brain and behavior. MIT Press. 1995 Review This marvellous book describes a wealth of biological features in terms of the structure of the underlying dynamical space, its bifurcations, and its attractors. This dynamical space is parameterised (say by the frequency of a gait), and as the value of the [...]

The Coordination Dynamics Law – An Equation of Life?

doc — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:58:52 +0000

“In coordination dynamics, where apartness and togetherness coexist as a complementary pair—where a whole is a part and a part is a whole—there are no equilibria, no fixed points at all.” TCN — J. A. Scott Kelso & David A. Engstrøm “In coordination dynamics, where apartness and togetherness coexist as a complementary pair-where a whole is a part [...]

Can an Electron be in Two Places at the Same Time?

doc — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:35:25 +0000

Max Planck Researchers in Berlin show that for electrons from nitrogen molecules, the wave~particle character exists simultaneously Electron Cloud One way of visualising the electron is to imagine it as a cloud moving around the nucleus. The thickness of the cloud represents the probability that the electron could be found in that location thicker cloud means [...]

FAU Professor Gets to the Heart of How the Brain Works

doc — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 07:53:06 +0000

By Stacey Singer, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer (Original Article – June 19, 2006) pdf One hundred billion neurons, packed to the size of two fists, control what we see, do and feel. The tools of modern medicine allow scientists to see the living brain, to map its intricate geography and learn about its chemistry. But understanding how [...]

Squiggle Poetry

doc — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:35:07 +0000

part of the whole, whole of the part, beginning~ending, together~apart. sentient being~becomings, progress~regress, more~less, accidentally~on purpose. metastable state~tendencies, create~annihilate functional information, enfolding~exfolding flight~pearchings, integrating~segregating boundary~domains, it’s self-organizing~informational dynamics, the coordination dynamics of its individual~collectives, its converging~diverging conscious~unconscious, its sleeping~waking micro~macro self~others.

The Squiggle Sense of Genetics~Dynamics

doc — Tue, 11 May 2010 05:34:51 +0000

The 20th century is well named as the Century of the Gene. (1) Biologists focused on establishing linkages of genotype (the genetic composition of the organism) to phenotype (what the organism looks and behaves like) and, in relationship to public health, to the mechanisms by which the phenotypes of premature senescence, disease, and death are [...]

The Squiggle Sense of Charles Burchfield

doc — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:06:22 +0000

“An artist finds his happiest combination in a play of complementary colors. They are direct contrasts yet do not jar; they awaken the beholder, but do not disturb him.” “The charm of the season – and the day in particular – is to be found in the union of the two complementaries blue a…nd orange.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Burchfield

Toward a Complementary Neuroscience: Metastable Coordination Dynamics of the Brain

doc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:37:41 +0000

by J. A. Scott Kelso* and Emmanuelle Tognoli* ABSTRACT Metastability has been proposed as a new principle of behavioral and brain function and may point the way to a truly complementary neuroscience. From elementary coordination dynamics we show explicitly that metastability is a result of a symmetry breaking caused by the subtle interplay of two forces: [...]

The Squiggle Sense of Body~Mind

David Engstrøm — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:35:28 +0000

body~mind body itself, mind itself, either body or mind, both body and mind, body changing to mind, mind changing to body, between body and mind, neither body nor mind, beyond body and mind…

ASSC8 – The Complementary Nature

doc — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:58:55 +0000

by J. A. Scott Kelso This lecture comes in three “movements” and arises out of a new book (Kelso, J.A.S. & D.A. Engstrom, The Complementary Nature, (2006 MIT Press). The first movement explores the central role of ubiquitous “contrarities” in the history of ideas (both in philosophy and science). We refer to all such contrarities as “complementary pairs” [...]

The Four Aspects

David Engstrøm — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:21:03 +0000

If you spend a little time looking around The Squiggle Sense blog, you will find a lot of information to think about. There are many novel concepts, terms and abbreviations to learn. Learning them and how they fit together can at times be a bit bewildering. Luckily, they fit together in a general skema that is [...]

The Squigglespeak of Fred Cummins

doc — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:51:12 +0000

In Squigglespeak posts, we talk about the squiggle sign (~), and give examples of its use by ourselves and others… The following excerpt comes from the article by Fred Cummins, Deep Affordance: Seeing the Self in the World: Fred Cummins – Cognitive Science Programme – University College Dublin “Let us now consider the Umwelt of the E. Coli [...]

The Complementary Nature

doc — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:52:09 +0000

Overview J. A. Scott Kelso and David A. Engstrøm have written The Complementary Nature to summarize their research plan. In this book, Kelso and Engstrøm contend that ubiquitous contraries are complementary and propose a comprehensive, empirically-based scientific theory of how the polarized world and the world in between can be reconciled. They nominate the squiggle (~), [...]